City should keep water and sewer

Sunday

Jan 6, 2013 at 4:00 AM

Hendersonville officials are concerned about the General Assembly's moves to force the consolidation of Asheville's water system with the Metropolitan Sewage District of Buncombe County and how it could impact the local water and sewer system.

“We at the city of Hendersonville work very hard to not be taken over by the General Assembly. We certainly oppose any intention to take our water and sewer system,” Councilman Jerry Smith said at Thursday night's city council meeting.

Council had been set to consider a resolution drafted by the N.C. League of Municipalities opposing state laws providing for the forced takeover of a city's water system, but removed the resolution from its agenda at the last moment. The league's draft resolution states: “The forced taking of any local government infrastructure sets a dangerous precedent in the state of North Carolina, a precedent that will have a chilling effect on any local government investing in needed infrastructure in the future, thereby endangering business opportunities and economic stability in the state and resulting in job losses for citizens here and across the state.”

Should Hendersonville be concerned about the Legislature's moves to force the merger of water and sewer systems in Asheville and Buncombe County?

“(I) really can't speak to whether Hendersonville has anything to worry about, but I have told them the legislation being drafted does not anticipate the acquisition of Hendersonville Water and Sewer,” N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady said Wednesday.

One can hardly blame city officials for being wary of what's going with Asheville. McGrady, a Henderson County Republican, and fellow Republican, N.C. Rep. Tim Moffitt of Buncombe County, are primary sponsors of “MSD Amendments” (HB 1009) introduced in the N.C. General Assembly in 2011. That bill started the process of a mandated merger of Asheville's water system and MSD in 2013 if the city does not comply.

This is an issue with a lot of history, but it boils down to this: Henderson County in 1995 entered into a supposedly “regional” water authority with Asheville and Buncombe County. The county was promised certain things, including water and sewer line extensions in the north part of the county, in exchange for letting Asheville build a water treatment plant on the Mills River. But after the $33 million plant and transmission lines were built, Asheville balked at extending water lines to some industries in northern Henderson County. It turned out the “Regional Water Authority” had no real authority since Asheville owned and controlled the water system. The dispute led to legal action and years of distrust between officials Henderson County and Asheville.

Now, with the General Assembly in Republican control for the first time since Reconstruction, Asheville finds itself being forced to merge its water system with MSD. City officials and voters are up in arms and have passed resolutions against the “takeover,” but there seems to be little they can do to stop it.

Hendersonville officials seem to have gotten McGrady's message that passing the League's resolution against the Asheville water consolidation would “not be helpful for Hendersonville.” “We're in the midst of a fairly sensitive discussion and to have Hendersonville weigh in on a very complicated water and sewer issue that's not really about them wouldn't help,” he says.

The history of water and sewer in Asheville and Buncombe County is different in many ways from in Henderson County. Asheville's water system and MSD were created out of many smaller systems, whereas in Henderson County, Hendersonville has owned and operated the main water system for more than a century. Hendersonville also has a modern sewage treatment plant which opened in 2002, built so it could be expanded from 4.8 million gallons per day to 12 MGD as need arises.

Last April we stated, “Although it might seem unlikely that the General Assembly would consolidate Hendersonville’s water system with Asheville’s, we should beware of the slippery slope when the Legislature starts telling local governments what to do. Just because Asheville and Buncombe County (and to a lesser extent, Henderson County) have been embroiled in a long-standing dispute does not, in our view, justify forcing Hendersonville to give up control of its water system.”

That position still stands. Hendersonville should make sure it continues to control its own water and sewer system, regardless of what happens up the road in Asheville and Buncombe County.